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Enter the world of Charles Dickens

Euronews

‘A Christmas Carol’ is one of English author Charles Dickens’ most famous stories. Sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge’s emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of three Ghosts of Christmas has been adapted for the screen and stage many times.

More than 320 movies, including dramas, musicals and cartoons have been inspired by Dickens’ novels. It is many people’s entry point into Dickens’ world.

As this year marks the 200th anniversary of Dickens’ birth a whole programme of events will allow the public to rediscover this major figure of English literature.

After a two-month refurbishment, the Charles Dickens Museum in London has reopened its doors. The former Dickens house has the world’s most important Dickens collection with over 100,000 items including manuscripts, rare editions, personal items, paintings and other visual sources.

‘‘His main secret was the fact that he worked in a blacking factory when he was 12 years old and the shame of that experience and the fact that his father was in prison for debt during that time was in a way a greater shame to him; the secret of his mistress that was something that just didn’t sit quite right with his image in the public. The idea that he came from such a humble background and had such a horrific experience in his childhood is something that scarred him deeply and affected his sense of justice or injustice more than anything else,” said museum director Florian Schweizer.

For those in search of some live attractions the Dickens World theme park in Kent can be a good place to look into the author’s life.

The indoor attraction includes a central square of cobbled streets and crooked buildings, where role-players dressed as pickpockets and wenches mingle with the crowds.